‘The Little Mermaid’ Has Disney’s Best Villain Song

She’s not asking much.

The Little Mermaid saved Disney. Or rather, songwriters Howard Ashman and Alan Menken did.

Fresh off the success of Little Shop of Horrors, Ashman and Menken brought a Broadway sensibility to Disney’s animated musicals. Songs should not merely serve as pleasant little interludes—they should advance plot and character. The music is part of the storytelling.

Disney needed a creative refresh in the ’80s. Just look at the sketchiness of Oliver and Company. With The Little Mermaid, the studio upped its game by an order of magnitude.

The movie’s most popular songs stand on their own, but they also serve the story. “Part of Your World” sums up Ariel and reveals her hopes and dreams. In “Under the Sea,” Sebastian tries to convince Ariel to accept underwater life and stop venturing to the surface. “Kiss the Girl” is an effort to accelerate the romance between Ariel and Eric and thereby save Ariel’s soul. And how I love “Les Poissons,” which shows the B-story conflict between Sebastian and a flamboyant chef (voiced by René Auberjonois, whom Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fans know better as Odo).

The villainous Ursula has her musical moment in “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” Disney has several great villain songs, but this is the strongest, as it best represents Ashman and Menken’s approach to songwriting.

“Poor Unfortunate Souls” doesn’t just define Ursula. It doesn’t just present her scheme. It doesn’t just build her up as a threat and foreshadow what’s to come. It does all of that while she manipulates Ariel into signing—and singing—her soul away. This is the seduction of the heroine and a major turning point of the movie.

Performed by Pat Carroll, the song escalates at just the right pace. Ursula begins by acting all friendly and benevolent, admitting to her wicked past while insisting that she’s reformed.

I admit that in the past I’ve been a nasty
They weren’t kidding when they called me, well, a witch
But you’ll find that nowadays
I’ve mended all my ways
Repented, seen the light, and made a switch
True? Yes.

Not quite. She’s conning Ariel right from the start, and Ariel’s desperation makes her an easy mark.

Ursula mentions her skill with magic, a talent that she always has possessed. She makes herself sound like quite the humanitarian—or the undersea equivalent—who helps all sorts of “poor unfortunate souls” with their problems. Meanwhile, Sebastian and Flounder swim over Ursula’s victims while quaking in horror.

And here she sneaks in a disclaimer:

Now, it’s happened once or twice
Someone couldn’t pay the price
And I’m afraid I had to rake ’em ’cross the coals
Yes, I’ve had the odd complaint
But on the whole I’ve been a saint
To those poor unfortunate souls

Those lines are packed with both plot and character. Ursula is selectively honest, making it clear that this bargain will entail some risk, but then she goes right back to bragging about how wonderful she is.

This isn’t just excellent songwriting. It’s excellent villain writing.

The music softens for a spoken interlude as Ursula lays out the exact parameters of her proposal. The scene mixes exposition and tension without ever losing focus on Ariel’s internal dilemma.

Then, after selling this idea, Ursula slips in the catch. “Oh, and there is one more thing,” she says, like it’s a trivial afterthought. “We haven’t discussed the subject of payment. … I’m not asking much, just a token, merely a trifle. You’ll never even miss it. What I want from you is—your voice.”

The singing soon resumes. The tempo accelerates. Ursula gets pushier and pushier as she seals the deal. She starts readying the spell even before Ariel commits—the sea witch is that confident in her success.

Come on, you poor unfortunate soul
Go ahead!
Make your choice!
I’m a very busy woman
And I haven’t got all day
It won’t cost much
Just your voice!

The aggression ramps up, giving Ariel little time to think things through before she signs the scroll.

The song concludes with Ariel singing until she can sing no more. Then, equipped with a fresh set of legs, our bamboozled young heroine swims up to a whole new world (wait, wrong Disney movie).

Compare this to the other villain songs of this era. All are great, but none quite sink to the depths of Ursula’s masterful villainy.

Beauty and the Beast gives us “Gaston,” which is plenty fun, but it’s mostly a portrait of Gaston. It fits into the story nicely. Belle has rejected Gaston, so now he’s down in the dumps, which his friend Lefou is disturbed to see. So, Lefou cheers Gaston up by reminding him how wonderful he is and how everyone who isn’t Belle loves him.

“The Mob Song” is more directly villainous, as Gaston stokes the townspeople’s fears and leads them toward the castle, whipping them into such a frenzy that they won’t rest until the Beast is good and deceased. It sets up the final confrontation wonderfully, but it is not the confrontation itself.

Lion King’s “Be Prepared” is also a great song that advances the plot. But though Scar’s teeth and ambitions are bared, he is simply ensuring that his minions are prepared for his villainous scheme.

Jafar doesn’t even get his own song in Aladdin, but he does steal “Prince Ali,” which was used earlier to puff up our protagonist. And Jafar throws it in his face, revealing Ali to be merely Aladdin. It’s fitting—Jafar steals the lamp, then steals the song in his moment of triumph. This might be the second best of the bunch. It is just a short reprise, but need he go on?

So, the award goes to “Poor Unfortunate Souls” for synchronizing singing and seduction and escalating toward a pivotal moment in the movie.

In The Little Mermaid, the boss was on a roll.